Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson told students and faculty at the University of Development Studies’ Nyankpala campus that Ghana’s New Economy will confront the human cost of unemployment and remove barriers that keep young people, farmers and small businesses from building sustainable livelihoods.
He said the country can no longer accept a situation where education fails to lead to employment, talent remains unsupported and productive effort yields little opportunity. “Unemployment is personal. It is the graduate who has finished school but cannot find work. It is the young person with talent but no capital,” he said.
Forson highlighted the plight of farmers who produce without reliable markets and small‑business owners whose ambitions to expand are frustrated by the cost of credit. He stressed that the New Economy must address both the search for work and the obstacles that prevent capable people from creating jobs.
For families, he noted, the burden is especially painful after years of sacrifice to finance a child’s education. “It is the family that sacrifices to educate a child, only to watch that child sit at home,” he said.
The minister rejected the idea that such experiences should become an accepted feature of national life. “No serious nation can accept this as normal. The New Economy says Ghana must no longer accept it,” he declared.
Forson’s remarks come as the government pushes forward a series of reforms aimed at boosting job creation and supporting entrepreneurship across the country.
